Mick Heffernan’s Legacy Lives
Colac’s Pat Heffernan wants to make sure her son, Michael, a Vietnam veteran, is still heard.
She stepped forward on her 85th birthday to ensure the voice of her late son, Michael, had not been stilled.
Such was a mother’s brave devotion for a son who both lived and died in the name of a cause.
Michael was 62 when he joined the improportionally swollen ranks of Vietnam veterans who have chosen to die by their own hand.
Many have died through the decades in tormented silence but Michael died shouting.
His choice of site was carefully deliberate – the Melbourne office of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).
In an eloquent farewell message read at his funeral, he explained why.
He said the handling of his case by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs had been poisoned by misinformation and lies and had been a major contributor to his end.
“For that reason alone I ended it where and as I did,” he said.
Mick’s second anniversary is tomorrow (July 27th) and his mum could not let the day pass without having publicly remembered his wish to focus on veterans’ affairs, the inflexibility of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act and the wish for a better way.
“I think it has done some good and I just want to keep it going,” Mrs Heffernan said.
“Only time will tell, but while the DVA is in the public eye maybe they’ll do more in the future because there are a lot of veterans struggling.”
Mick chose to be a soldier. He was absorbed by the story of his grandfather – Pat’s dad, Leo Brauer – who served at Gallipoli and on the Somme before an inches-long hunk of shrapnel became buried in his leg.
Two of Mr Brauer’s sons would march off to World War II and then Mick and his brother, Shane, would become army men.
Mick’s experiences in and after Vietnam would leave him feeling at times like he was engulfed by a big black hole.
“Every time I shut my eyes the black holes are full of nightmares, often terrifying,” he said. “It truly was hard to live with for most of the time.”
Pat Heffernan sat with photos of Mick at her hands as she delivered his message this week.
“Look after the other Vietnam vets and their families and do more for them,” she said. “What more could I say? That was his ambition, to do something to help them, but I’m sure no one wanted him to do that.”
Mrs Heffernan read aloud the last lines of Mick’s funeral message: “Remember the good and fun times we had together. Be there for each other until your pain goes away.”
Then, with misted eyes, she added her own footnote. “It never does.”PEOPLE experiencing personal problems can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, SANE Helpline on 1800 187 263 or the Victorian Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251.
- Danny Lannen, Geelong Advertiser
Tags: veteran suicide
This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under Veteran News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.